US Open 2020: Preview
• 5 MINUTE READ
The players are ready, the stage is set and finally, Grand Slam tennis has returned to our screens at the 2020 US Open Championships in New York.
After months of no tennis action across the world, the tournament marks the return of the sport’s greatest stars all looking to compete to take home the illustrious title.
Prepare yourself for 2 weeks of non-stop tennis action with our preview of this year’s US Open.
Who’s playing?
Singles
Whilst the US Open will be going ahead this year, given the current global climate a few of the world’s top players will not feature. The big news of course being that former champions Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal won’t be playing, as well as last year’s winner Bianca Andresscu, World No.1 Ashleigh Barty and Simona Halep on the women’s side.
Whilst a few familiar faces may be missing this year, its business as usual with the rest of the draw, as the likes of 6-time champion Serena Williams and World No.1 Novak Djokovic lead competitive fields. Williams of course will be hoping to win her 24th Grand Slam title, whilst Djokovic looks to extend his 23-match unbeaten run in 2020.
But it won’t be easy for them. On the men’s side, there has been no better time for the young guns to make their breakthrough at a slam. Daniil Medvedev will be hoping to go one step further than last year, whilst Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev will all fancy their chances to get over the final hurdle and win a major.
In the women’s draw it’s almost impossible to choose a winner. 2018 champion Naomi Osaka and last week’s Western & Southern Open winner, Victoria Azarenka both enter the competition in fantastic form and will be difficult to beat. Karolina Pliskova comes in as the No.1 seed and has also enjoyed success in New York in the past, reaching the 2016 final. Angelique Kerber and young Coco Gauff will also look to set their marker down at this year’s event and claim the top prize.
Doubles
This year’s US Open will be without the mixed event, but boasts brilliant line-ups on both the men’s and women’s draws. Defending men’s doubles champions Juan Sebastian Cabal & Robert Farah are back and look set to defend their title. However, the Acapulco champions and 2nd seeds, Lukasz Kubot & Marcelo Melo, also look a strong pick for the championship as they look to lift the US Open trophy for the first time.
Timea Babos & Kristina Mladenovic will look to secure back-to-back Grand Slam women’s doubles titles this week, arriving at Flushing Meadows as the Australian Open champions and No.1 seeds. But the defending champions Elise Mertens & Aryna Sabalenka will almost certainly have something to say about that and come into the tournament in fine form.
The Brits
Singles
There will be very few players entering the US Open with more match practice than the Brits, which should put them at an advantage amongst the rest of the field. All eyes on Tuesday will be on Johanna Konta and Heather Watson, with the British No.1 and 2 set to face off for the first time in a Grand Slam. The British Fed Cup team mates have only played 3 times on the WTA Tour, with Konta winning each one, but both players will fancy their chances and will hope to make a strong run at this year’s event.
On the men’s side, it’s a similar story – Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund, Cameron Norrie and Andy Murray have all picked up impressive wins over the past few weeks and will feel they have a good chance to go deep in the competition. British No.1 Evans notched up yet another win against a top 20 player last week, beating Andrey Rublev, whilst Edmund and Norrie were arguably two of the standout performers at the recent Battle of the Brits.
Murray’s comeback continues to grow from strength to strength as he picked up his first win against a top 10 player since 2017 when he beat Alexander Zverev at the Western & Southern Open last week. This will be the 2012 US Open champion’s first Grand Slam singles match since his operation and he’ll certainly be one for the rest of the draw to look out for.
Doubles
The Brits have a fantastic 7 players in the doubles at the 2020 US Open. Leading the pack is Australian Open champion Joe Salisbury and his partner Rajeev Ram, who enter the competition as the No.3 seeds and for many, will be the ones to beat. After a Masters semi-final run this week as well, there are no signs of the duo suffering from being apart from the last 6 months.
Jamie Murray & Neal Skupski will hope to build on their campaign at the Western & Southern Open, which saw them reach the final, but will have it all to do from the off as they face 4th seeds Ivan Dodig & Filip Polasek in the opening round. Murray has enjoyed great success in New York in the past and will be hoping the pair can clinch their first slam.
Dom Inglot & Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Luke Bambridge & Ben McLachlan both enjoyed brilliant starts to the year, winning titles at New York and Auckland respectively. Both pairs will be a tricky proposition for any of the other teams in the draw and could cause an upset or two along the way.
Despite tricky opening draws, expect Jonny O’Mara & Marcelo Alevaro and Ken Skupski & Santiago Gonzalez to throw up a serious challenge for anyone who comes their way.
How to watch
Fans in the UK will be able to stream the US Open exclusively live on Amazon Prime Video.
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